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John F. Kennedy Quotes about War

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A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

John F. Kennedy
Christian, Peace, War
Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.163, Best Books on

Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.

John F. Kennedy
Country, War, Power

Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, 'rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation', a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.

John F. Kennedy
War, Struggle, Twilight
Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961. The words in quotation marks are from the Bible, Romans 12:12.

War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

John F. Kennedy
Peace, War, Presidential
"Warrior" by William Safire, www.nytimes.com. August 26, 2007.

There is always inequality in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair.

John F. Kennedy
Life, Country, War

The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.

John F. Kennedy
Peace, Military, War
"John F. Kennedy: 1961 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 20 to December 31, 1961" by John F. Kennedy, Washington: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1962.

The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation.

John F. Kennedy
War, Justice, Poverty

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

John F. Kennedy
Workout, Peace, War
Final Address to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 20 September 1963, New York, NY

My fellow Americans, let us take that first step. Let us...step back from the shadow of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is a thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we, in this land, at this time, took the first step.

John F. Kennedy
War, Journey, Land
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Address to the Nation, delivered 26 July 1963

The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.

John F. Kennedy
War, Nuclear Disarmament, Nukes
Address to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 25 September 1961

Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable.

John F. Kennedy
War, Needs, Inevitable
American University Commencement Address, delivered 10 June 1963

War and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barriers.

John F. Kennedy
Religious, War, Ignorance
Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, delivered 12 September 1960 at the Rice Hotel in Houston, TX

I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

John F. Kennedy
Country, War, Mistake
Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, delivered 27 April 1961, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York

We in this country, in this generation, are, by destiny rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.

John F. Kennedy
Country, Wall, War
Undelivered Speech to the Dallas Citizens Council, delivered 22 November 1963, Trade Mart, Dallas, Texas

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace.

John F. Kennedy
Peace, War, Torches
Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

John F. Kennedy
Peace, War, Humanity
Speech of at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington, www.presidency.ucsb.edu. September 06, 1960.

Bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations. Weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us...No longer is the quest for disarmament a sign of weakness, (nor) the destruction of arms a dream - it is a practical matter of life or death. The risks inherent in disarmament pale in comparison to the risks inherent in an unlimited arms race.

John F. Kennedy
Dream, War, Race

Every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable .. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.

John F. Kennedy
War, Nuclear Disarmament, Nuclear Proliferation
Address to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 25 September 1961

Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade; therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as be wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

John F. Kennedy
Peace, Attitude, War
American University Commencement Address, delivered 10 June 1963

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

John F. Kennedy
War, Europe, Issues
1963 Address in Berlin's Rudolf Wilde Platz, 26 Jun, 22 months after the erection of the wall dividing the city.

We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war.

John F. Kennedy
War, Ocean, Knowledge
Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Program, delivered 12 September 1962, Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas

In a world of danger and trial, peace is our deepest aspiration, and when peace comes we will gladly convert not our swords into plowshares, but our bombs into peaceful reactors, and our planes into space vessels. "Pursue peace," the Bible tells us, and we shall pursue it with every effort and every energy that we possess. But it is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

John F. Kennedy
Inspirational, War, Space
Speech at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington, www.presidency.ucsb.edu. September 06, 1960.

With all of the history of war, and the human race's history unfortunately has been a good deal more war than peace, with nuclear weapons distributed all through the world, and available, and the strong reluctance of any people to accept defeat, I see the possibility in the 1970's of the President of the United States having to face a world in which 15 or 20 or 25 nations may have these weapons.

John F. Kennedy
Strong, War, Race
Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.280, Best Books on

We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of a worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth - but neither shall we shrink from that risk any time it must be faced.

John F. Kennedy
War, Risk, Victory
Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation, delivered 22 October 1962

You're in there with me. Personally.

John F. Kennedy
War, Cold, Cold War